Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai
by Fenrir7139
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki, container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, has a Daifu, and that Daifu is going to lead him in his journey to save the human world... And, perhaps, find love along the way. NarutoxHarem, M for: Blood, Langauge, Lemons, ect. Demonic, Strong Naruto
1. Death

Bottom of Form

**Yo! Fenrir7139 here, comin' at ya' with the first chapter of my new story, **_**Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai**_**! Enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer**_

_This will act as a blanket disclaimer for the entirety of this work. I, Fenrir7139, do not own any of the characters of, or anything associated with, the Naruto or Devil May Cry franchises. Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, and Devil May Cry is the property of Capcom. I also claim no ownership of any other franchise or copyrighted work that is mentioned, quoted, or included in this work. I receive no financial gains from this work, and hereby state that this story is not to be printed for any type of profit. This story will contain sexual content, meaning anyone under the age of eighteen, or the age of majority in his/her country/province, or does not approve of such content, should not read this story. If he/her continues to read this story, I claim no responsibility, as I have placed this disclaimer and given this story an M for Mature rating. This story will also contain violence, though the amount of graphic violence is, as of yet, undecided. This story contains polygamous relationships, so if you, the reader, are offended by this, I would suggest you read something else._

_**Fenrir7139 Presents:**_

_**Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai  
(The Fox Chronicles: Physical World) **_

_**Chapter One  
Death**_

"**Men only think of their past right before their death, as if they were searching frantically for proof that they were alive…" - **_**Jet Black, Cowboy Bebop**_

_**Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gakai…**_

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks since the Kyuubi no Kitsune, greatest of the Bijuu, had first appeared.

It had existed only in legend and rumors before that fateful night, but now, it had become a grim reality.

First, it appeared on the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. It came as a blazing inferno, blood-red fur bristling as it roared, revealing its razor-sharp, snow-white fangs, the smallest of which was the length of a full-grown man, its head the size of a small house.

It began its crusade against the Land of Fire by attacking the Azuchi Fortress, the largest and most heavily fortified building in the Land of Fire. After three days, there was nothing left, not even rubble, to give a hint of the fortress's existence. Only ash and the smell of death remained.

Then, it had moved on to Izumo, the Capital City, destroying villages and forests as it went, before finally laying siege to the city proper. This took considerably longer; not due to any form of defense on the part of the citizens, but because it took longer for the Kyuubi to finish eating the populace before beginning the demolition of the city. Only the Daimyo, Tadahisa Shimazu, and his family, escaped with their lives.

And now, two weeks after the creature's first appearance, it was on the move once more. This time, it was headed for a city hidden deep inside one of the thickest forests that Fire Country had.

Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, was about to face an enemy unlike any they had ever faced before. Even during the Great Shinobi Wars, which only a select few of the older generation remembered, fear had never been as rampant in the village as it was now.

The streets were filled with the sounds of Shinobi readying themselves for what could quite possibly be their last battle. Kunai and shuriken were sharpened, armor examined for imperfections or weaknesses. But despite all this preparation, most of the Leaf Shinobi knew this day would end in their death.

Against the likes of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, armor would not protect you, kunai and shuriken would not save you, and even the most powerful of Ninjutsu would prove about as effective as spitting at the colossal beast.

But the brave men and women readied themselves, regardless. Why? Because, they had a leader who they believed in, a leader they knew in their hearts could bring them victory, no matter the odds.

That leader's name was Minato Namikaze, and he was the Yondaime Hokage.

Minato, along with his fiancé, Kushina Uzumaki, his predecessor, Omoi Sarutobi, and Jiraiya Benkei of the Sannin, was currently sitting in a private hospital room next to his future-wife, who was lying down on a bed, her stomach bulging with an obvious pregnancy.

Sarutobi was sitting next to the closed door to the room, while Jiraiya was standing next to Kushina's bed, busily drawing in his notepad. The only reason he hadn't been beaten to within an inch of his life yet for doing this, was because he wasn't drawing something dirty for the first, and probably last, time. No, the scene he was sketching was a small, portrait-style piece of Minato and Kushina, as they were at this very moment. Despite the imminent danger approaching from just a few hours away, the Yondaime's expression was one of complete and utter joy, and the red-haired woman that was his fiancé had a similar look.

After a few moments, Jiraiya finished the sketch with a flourish, before showing it to the other three who had entered the room.

It was one of the greatest pieces he had ever done, according to the two Hokages in the room, though Kushina expressed - quite vocally - her annoyance at her rotund state being preserved for future generations to see, though she too complimented the old sage after a few moments of angry brooding.

However, the quiet peace of this moment was shattered moments later, when a mini-cyclone of leaves appeared in the middle of the room, sending cards, flowers, and Kushina's hair whipping about, before the storm finally ceased, revealing a young man.

The man was twenty-one years old, at least. He had a smooth, silky mane of exotic, white hair, and piercing, ice-blue eyes, set upon a handsome face, with a strange, horned ANBU mask pushed up on his head to reveal, and its thin coating of snow-colored stubble.

He was clothed in a pair of crimson denim pants, covered with tight-fitting, leather, chap-like guards, the area covering his shins and the top half of his black boots a crimson red, like his pants, and decorated with various swirling designs.

If you were to look a bit further up, you would see his simple brown leather belt, clasped with an intricate, silver buckle, which looked like the snarling face of an otherworldly creature.

A tight, black, zip-up shirt covered his torso, the fabric clinging to his muscular frame, while his red, leather trench coat and black, fingerless leather gloves finished the ensemble.

On his back, was a huge sword, only a bit shorter than his roughly six-foot three height, the blade as wide as a man's forearm.

It looked almost as if he was about to speak, when an angry Kushina cut the stranger off.

"Nintai, you bastard! Where the hell have you been? I told you to come here a fuckin' hour ago, ya' dumbass!"

The white-haired man smirked at the pregnant woman, not showing the slightest hint of remorse.

"Ah, shut it, Kushina… I had shit to do, so stop bitchin'."

The other three men in the room visibly sweat-dropped; Nintai acted just like Kushina did!

The red-headed woman continued to glare at the man for nearly a minute, before her face broke into a grin.

"Nintai, you ass, get over here! We've got important things to discuss and what not…"

Nintai just shook his head with a chuckle at the woman's sudden mood swing, and did as she asked, sitting down next to her. Once he did, Jiraiya and Minato followed suit. Although Minato all ready knew what was about to be said, he wanted to be sat down before hand, for reasons that would be revealed later.

Reclining in one of the wooden chairs of the room, Nintai lazily eyed Kushina.

"All right, spill it. What's so damn important that you had to take me off guard duty? Granted, I wasn't thrilled to be fighting a city-destroying fox, but I know I could' a taken it down eventually. You guys know about my… _condition_."

Minato rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, kid, you should just tell the villagers all ready. It's a pain and the ass covering it up all the time, and besides that, it's not like any of the citizens would think less of you; you've done more good for Konoha than anyone, even myself or the old monkey there!"

Nintai leveled his gaze on Minato with a sad expression.

"Minato, I know you think so, but… I don't. You know the reasons why."

"Look, Nintai, what happened to you in Iwagakure no Sato was horrible, but that shouldn't-"

The sword-wielding man raised his hand, cutting the Yondaime off.

"Enough, Minato… It doesn't matter. What was it you guys wanted to talk to me about, anyway?"

The blonde chuckled as he wrapped an arm around Kushina's shoulders, giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Well, first of all, we decided on a name for our baby… Naruto, after the main character in that book by Jiraiya."

Nintai and the Sandaime both raised an eyebrow at that, though the younger man spoke first.

"What? I thought you hated Jiraiya's work, Kushina?"

The red-head huffed and turned her head.

"Minato wouldn't let it go. At least it wasn't a bunch of smut like that disgusting _Icha Icha_ series of his..."

Jiraiya let out an indignant gasp at this, but a death-glare from Kushina shut him up. Then, the Sandaime spoke, badly concealing a chuckle at the atics of the younger people in the room.

"Minato-kun, you said 'first of all', so am I correct in assuming you wanted to say something else?"

The blonde nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, thanks, old man… Anyway, the other thing was more about Naruto himself. You see, we picked his Daifu, and… We chose you, Nintai."

Nintai's expression was frozen for almost a minute in an expression of shock, before Kushina's laughter snapped him out of it. Sighing, he looked away.

"I… I'm honored, Minato, Kushina, I really am, but… I can't. I can't accept the position. You should ask Jiraiya."

To say the others in the room were shocked was an understatement. Even the Sandaime's mouth was agape in disbelief.

But, as most would have suspected, Kushina recovered first.

"What the hell do ya' mean "you can't accept the position"? I should kick your ass, you baka! Why the hell can't ya'?"

Nintai looked at her, his face a stoic mask.

"I'm not cut out to be a father, or even a father-figure. I would only screw it up. Besides, why are you guys even making me Godfather? It's not like you're going to die or anything!"

Minato sighed, and turned his gaze to the window, through which the sky, which was all ready tinted red from the Kyuubi's malignant chakra, could be seen. Nintai caught what that look meant, and jumped from his chair, eyes wide.

"What? You can't be serious! Minato, I thought you said you weren't gonna use that thing!"

The Yondaime shook his head.

"I know, Nintai, but… I have to. There's no other solution, other than the Shiki Fujin. Believe me, if there was an alternative, I would-"

"There is an alternative, you baka! I can do it! _You're_ important to the village, not me, _you_ need to live!"

Minato glared at Nintai, a frown set on his face.

"_No_, Nintai. I am the Hokage. I cannot ask someone else to do my job. I went over this with Sarutobi all ready. You need to understand that."

Kushina, who had remained out of the conversation, put in her two cents.

"Nintai, you need to understand, Minato's not gonna budge. I all ready tried. I even tried to seduce him and then tie him up so he couldn't go, but he used that fuckin' Nawanuke no Jutsu and escaped. Then he tied me up! And once he did, he didn't give me my clothes back, and, to top it off, he started licking my-"

At that, Minato covered his lover's mouth, a blush adorning his cheeks, though a minor nosebleed was siphoning some of the blood away.

"Kushina, that's enough, I don't think they want to hear anymore…"

"I DO!"

"Shut up, Jiraiya!"

The old pervert's shoulders slumped, and he started muttering to himself about disrespectful students, which Minato ignored as he continued to speak.

"Nintai, I'm not taking no as an answer from you. You're perfect for the job; after all, who couldKushina and I trust more than our own teammate?"

Nintai shook his head once more.

"Minato, I don't know the first thing about kids, I just can't-"

Suddenly, all noise ceased, the rest of Nintai's sentence caught in his throat, the owls stopped hooting in the trees, and even the crowds of Shinobi preparing for battle stopped moving.

The bane of the Land of Fire, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, had arrived.

Minato recovered first, followed by Jiraiya. Nodding at the older man, the blonde got up, putting on his long, off-white coat.

"Too late for excuses, Nintai. Looks like it's time to go…"

Kushina looked up at her lover, tears in her eyes.

"Minato, please, don't-"

She was unable to finish her sentence, as a grunt of pain cut it off.

"Oh Kami! It's… It's time! Please, Minato, don't leave me! Don't leave yet!"

The Yondaime was at her side in an instant, as the midwife, who had been listening in on the conversation, entered as well.

She was a rather old woman, probably around seventy-five, but she was still as spry as she had been in her prime, and had delivered nearly every baby in Konoha. She wore the traditional garb of a miko, and her graying hair was held in a tight bun. She was rather plump, and almost hunched over, using a cane as support. But, her most noticeable feature was the black eye patch she wore over her right eye, which seemed to be made from the guard of a katana.

"If you're not the father or mother of this child, leave immediately! I don't want you fools in the way!"

When no one moved, the old woman let out a bestial growl, and, lifting the wooden cane she was using, smacked the closest person with it on the head, which, unfortunately, was Nintai.

"OW! What the fuck, lady? Why are you hittin' me with sticks and shit?"

The old woman's eye widened at Nintai's foul language, and she smacked him some more.

"OUT, OUT, OUT! By the Kami, it's hard enough delivering babies during an attack, and your language isn't helping, young man! OUT!"

Deciding that anything was better than dealing with the old woman's cane, Nintai quickly body flickered out of the room, as did Jiraiya and the Sandaime, leaving Minato, Kushina, and the Midwife to deliver Konohagakure's salvation on their own.

_**...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…**_

The three men appeared in the middle of the main street of Konoha, where nearly every citizen, civilian and Shinobi alike, were staring at the approaching demon fox with fear.

Konoha was a well-planned city; during the Shodaime's reign, it had been protected by only two walls, built directly against the face of the mountain that would later become the Hokage Monument; one around the Hokage Tower, and the other around the village proper. However, after Konoha began to prosper, its number of citizens grew, and a third wall was added, this one circling around the Hokage Monument entirely.

During the Nidaime's time, the population of Konoha experienced a second boom, due largely to an influx of immigrants and refugees from places like the Land of Water and Amegakure, and a fourth wall was added to the circle of protection.

And, finally, during the Sandaime's era, a fifth, hidden fortification was created; a bunker inside of the Hokage Monument.

It had once been a limestone cave, discovered by one of the craftsmen carving the Sandaime's face into the cliff face, when his chisel hit a loose section of the rock, causing a cave-in on the top of the monument. Luckily, the subsequent hole was only a few feet wide, and the man had not fallen in, but it had given the Sandaime a clue as to what laid within the mountain.

Several teams of Shinobi ventured inside, and their reports all came back the same; the cave filled the majority of the mountain; it was only still standing due to several stalactites and stalagmites that acted as natural support beams. This gave the Sandaime enough information to warrant the construction of the bunker; first, the entire interior of the mountain had been strengthened with true support beams made of steel, as well as several coatings of reinforced concrete on the walls and floor of the cave.

When it was finally finished, the bunker was able to fit the entirety of the village at least semi-comfortably, with thousands of small rooms built along the walls of the cave, connected by staircases and ladders, as well as a colossal well that reached nearly one hundred and fifty feet below the surface, giving them a water supply, while an area for livestock allowed the civilians and Shinobi alike to survive during a possible siege.

All of this was running through Nintai's mind as he quickly pulled on his ANBU mask, covering his face before anyone could see him.

Nintai's mask was rather odd; unlike the other Konoha ANBU masks, which were all animals, his had the appearance of some type of demon, complete with small horns sprouting from his forehead. The eyes were thin slits, like the rest of the ANBU masks, but then the changes became more pronounced.

His mask was quite sparsely decorated; there were two triangular markings that started at the top of his brow and ended at points just above the nexus between his eye slits, and four more on his cheeks, with the upper pair much larger than the lower. Between the points of the four lied the engraved leaf symbol of Konoha, and beneath the lower pair of makings was an engraved kanji; the Kanji for "Shoki", a great hero in Fire Country folklore.

Once his mask was attached to his face, he looked at the Sandaime.

"Sarutobi-sama, please evacuate the civilians and Genin into the bunker; I don't want to lose any kids during this fight. Jiraiya and I will focus on gathering the Shinobi; we'll hold the fox off until Minato's kid is born."

The ageing Kage nodded, and swiftly made his way to the huge crowd of people.

"All civilians are to make way to the Monument Bunker immediately! Genin are to follow suite! This is a direct order from the Hokage!"

Sarutobi knew he was stretching the truth quite a bit here, since Minato hadn't actually said that, but the old man justified felt it was justified; after all, he'd once been Hokage.

When Sarutobi, the civilians and the Genin began to make their way towards the inner circle of walls, and the entrance to the bunker, Nintai and Jiraiya turned to the remaining Shinobi, and the Toad Sage spoke.

"Listen, I know you're all scared for your lives. That's all right; but you can't let that fear consume you. You are Shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato! You possess the Will of Fire! This is your home, and _nothing_ is going to take it from you!"

At the Toad Sage's passionate words, the Shinobi of Konohagakure let out a deafening roar, which rivaled that of the Kyuubi no Kitsune itself, which was now clear on the horizon, barreling towards the village at high speed.

When Nintai saw this, he spoke as well.

"All right, guys, the Yondaime has a way to finish that thing off once and for all, but he isn't finished preparing yet! We need to hold it off until he gets here! Understood?"

A loud chorus of "Hai!" from the surrounding Shinobi answered him, and he grinned a blood-thirsty grin behind his mask.

"All right then…"

In one swift motion, his massive zanbato was drawn, and, despite the fact it had to weigh as much as he did, he was able to lift it easily with just one hand, twirling around to point it at the approaching Bijuu.

"LET'S ROCK!"

And with that, the majority of Konoha's Shinobi charged forward to battle the greatest of the tailed beasts, ready to defend their homes with their lives…

_**...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…**_

Nintai growled in pain as he raised himself up from the ground for the… twenty-seventh time, he believed.

All around him lay his comrades' fallen forms, but more Shinobi replaced the lost. But, regardless of numbers, they were still being pushed back towards the walls of Konoha at an increasing rate.

'_If it keeps going like this, it'll destroy the village before Minato can seal it!'_

Grimacing in pain as he felt his ribcage snap, only to reset itself and heal in a matter of seconds, he hefted his blade once more, and let out a shout so loud that it overwhelmed the sounds of battle.

"YOU READY, FOX? 'CUZ I'M GONNA SHOVE HANSEKI HERE STRAIGHT DOWN YOUR THROAT!"

The Bijuu actually turned towards him after his exclamation, and in its eyes he saw pain, anger, and… Regret?

'_What the hell?'_

Suddenly, he clutched at his head in pain, as a pain-filled voice began to echo in his brain at booming levels.

'_**Hanyou, help me! Save me! Free me from myself!'**_

Growling, he began to fight back against the intruder, which he figured must have been the Kyuubi toying with him. Soon, he began to set off his mind traps.

Mind Traps were exactly what they sounded like; mental defenses that would harm anyone who tried to force their way into a Shinobi's mind. Few Shinobi bothered to create Mind Traps, due to the lack of Psychic Techniques in the Elemental Countries, but due to a certain factor of Nintai's blood, Mind Traps came to him naturally.

The Kyuubi roared in agony as it felt thousands of kunai embed themselves into its brain, one of the many traps Nintai had set up. It immediately pulled away from his mind, and continued to fight and slay the Konoha Shinobi.

Cursing, the snow-haired ANBU began to run towards the beast.

Jumping to dodge one of its tails, he grabbed a fistful of its fur, and was subsequently flying through the air as it tried to shake him off.

Still, he held on, and began to slowly pull himself along the long appendage, sheathing his zanbato as he went. After what felt like hours, but was closer to five minutes, he'd made it onto the beast's back.

His victory was short-lived, however, when he had to go down on his stomach to avoid one of the fox's many tails.

"Fuck! That was close… I almost-"

He was cut off when he had to dodge another tail, and decided the time for talking would be later. He began to run across the creature's back, dodging its thrashing tails as he did, before leaping into the air, and landing on top of its head.

"All right, bastard, let's see how you like _this_!"

With a roar, he stabbed his massive blade into the demon's head, feeling it hit its skull, and…

Stop.

Cursing, he began to grind its tip against the demon's thick bones, not worrying about the blade's edge. It was a demonic weapon, a gift from his father, Subeta, an Akuma of great reknown, and it wouldn't break any time soon.

It was around the time that Nintai felt the fox's skull begin to give in that the bijuu also seemed to realize what was going on atop its head, and began to shake vigorously.

Nintai cursed vehemently as he held on for dear life, still trying to pierce the creature's skull, but the feat was made significantly more difficult due to the fact that it was shaking him like a rag doll.

'_Minato, please, hurry! I don't want you to die, but… If you don't, the entire village will be destroyed!'_

Indeed, though there were nearly six thousand Shinobi in Konoha, a good thousand were Genin in the bunker, and the number of Chunin and Jonin had dropped significantly. Now, the beast was within striking distance of the village's walls, and did so with impunity, leveling huge areas of the surrounding land.

And all Nintai could do was hope that the Yondaime was on his way, as he felt his sword's tip tear free of the creature's flesh, and he began to fall through the air… Only to be snapped up into the fox's huge maw.

_**...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…**_

During all of this, Minato was holding his lover's hand as she huffed and puffed in pain, both of them sweating bullets, her grip nearly crushing his hand, but he didn't make a sound.

Suddenly, the EKG began to beep in quick intervals, and Kushina let out a scream of pain as blood began to seep from inside her. The ageing midwife's eyes widened, and she quickly began to try and stop the bleeding. She looked at Minato.

"You! If you know any healing techniques, use them! If not, find someone who can!"

Minato's expression changed from fear to outright horror.

"What? Why? What's going on?"

The midwife growled, and continued to try and stop Kushina's bleeding.

"She's had a Uterine Rupture; I'm not able to stop the bleeding; I'll have to do a Caesarean Delivery, but we need to try and stop the blood flow first, or else both she and the child will die!"

Minato nodded, and, knowing that there were no other Shinobi in the hospital, was by the midwife's side immediately, placing his hands over his bleeding lover's abdomen.

"_Chiyupou: Naishukketsu Shuuzen_!"

Green chakra began to mold around his hands, and he began to sweat even more at the strain. He wasn't a medical ninja; he didn't have the chakra control to hold this type of jutsu for very long. While he was doing this, the midwife quickly left, and returned with a bottle of blue liquid, holding it to Kushina's lips.

"Drink this, child… "

The red-haired woman did as she was told, and, a few moments later, drifted into blissful unconsciousness. Once this was accomplished, Minato cut off the flow of medical chakra, breathing heavily.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Kaede-san, but… I… I can't go on… The medical chakra… strains my body too much…"

The old woman nodded.

"I understand, Hokage-sama. Please, rest, I will continue from here… _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!"

Suddenly, five other old women, completely identical to the mid-wife, appeared, much to Minato's shock.

"H… How did you-"

The old woman raised her eye patch to reveal a milky-white, obviously blind, eye, the skin surrounding which was heavily scarred. But it was the symbol attached to the eye patch that caught Minato's gaze; the Konoha Leaf. Then, the woman spoke.

"I was a Jonin once, you know. I have a few tricks up my sleeve… But, never mind that now! I have work to do!"

She put her eye patch down once more, as she and her clones began the operation on Kushina, while Minato could only watch with trepidation.

'_Please, Kushina… Please, you must live through this… For Naruto's sake…"_

But, no one answered his silent pleas.

_**...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…**_

Nintai felt himself being squeezed by the Bijuu's saliva-and-mucus filled throat, and nearly retched at the smell, but continued to struggle against the fox's strong muscles. It was at times like these that he was glad his demonic heritage gave him the option to not have to have oxygen to breathe, though the smell nearly made him wish for death.

"Come on, Fox… brush… your damn… teeth! Or at least… get some… mouthwash!"

He continued to grunt out expletives as he squirmed against the demon's throat. His disgust only deepened when he saw a corpse trapped between a fold of the muscles.

A human corpse.

"By the Kami, that's just nasty!"

Looking away from the corpse as best he could, Nintai began to try and think of a way out of his predicament. Hanseki was still in his hand, but it was being held above him, and he could barely move his arm, much less swing the huge blade. Though he was satisfied when he felt a drop of blood land on his face, and the beast roared, the sound echoing in his ears to a deafening degree.

"Hell yeah, take that, bitch!"

He began to try and move the blade more, in hopes that it would cause more reactions like the first one.

'_I just hope this thing doesn't barf me out… That'd be fuckin' disgusting!'_

He was able to nick the fox's throat once more, causing another splatter of blood, and another roar and session of thrashing about. This actually caused Nintai more harm than good, as he began to slip further down the fox's throat, and only just managed to catch himself before he fell into its stomach.

Looking down at the pool of acid, Nintai cursed in annoyance.

"Damn it! There's a fight going on, and I'm stuck as a snack for an overgrown fox! This day sucks!"

Feeling his fingers begin to slip from the muscle ledge he was holding onto, he raised Hanseki, and stabbed it deep inside the fox's throat.

While he had intended to use this merely as a steadier handhold, it had a much, much larger effect; in fact, it was the effect he'd feared earlier.

He could see the stomach acid begin to bubble and rise in the creature's stomach, and realized what was about to happen.

"Oh, shit."

Nintai only had just enough time to pull Hanseki from the fox's throat when the wave of stomach acid and undigested "food" carried him out of the creature's throat and past its mouths, and he landed with a loud thud on the forest floor, next to a half-rotted cow that had, apparently, been stuck between the Kyuubi's fangs.

That was when he felt a slight burning sensation, and discovered that his trenchcoat and gloves, as well as his leg guards, were beginning to disintegrate, and steam was rising from his hands.

"Fuck!"

He quickly raced towards a stream that was a pale red, most probably from the blood of Bijuu and Shinobi alike, and jumped in, only getting out when he was sure the stomach acid was washed off completely. Then, he ran through several handseals, and spouted out a jutsu.

"_Katon: Jouki Dorai no Jutsu_!"

Steam began to rise from his clothes and body, and soon, Nintai was completely dry. He looked at the destruction the Kyuubi had caused, and anger filled him.

The entire southern half of the village was destroyed; not only that, the old, tall trees surrounding the area had been torn from the earth.

Letting out a bestial snarl, Nintai charged the Kitsune once more, intent to finish it off, but was suddenly stopped by a masculine hand, which took hold of his shoulder.

Turning, he saw Jiraiya, and growled.

"Jiraiya, what the hell are you doing? Let go of me!"

The Sannin shook his head, sighing.

"It's no use, kid. There's nothing any of us can do to stop the Kyuubi yet. Only Minato can; we just need to pray that he gets here soon…"

Then, the ageing Toad Sage looked Nintai in the eye.

"And by the way… Your mask is broken."

Feeling his face, Nintai realized that his mask was, in fact, damaged. The entirety of his left eye could be seen, as well as some of his mouth and nose.

"You're right…"

He tore the mask from his face, and threw it to the ground, knowing it was useless now, anyway.

'_Minato… You need to hurry…'_

As if he had heard the ANBU's plea, there was a flash of yellow, and Minato appeared, blood on his hands, and a wailing, blonde child in his arms, his expression dark, eyes red and still pouring tears.

Nintai immediately realized what this meant, and shook his head.

"No… NO! It can't be! She _can't_ be dead!"

Minato sighed.

"Yes, she is. And soon… I will be, as well. Please, Nintai… Please, accept your role as Naruto's Daifu, I beg you!"

Nintai nodded solemnly.

"Hai, Minato. I accept. I will make you and Kushina proud of him, I swear it! He will be the greatest Shinobi in Fire Country!"

Minato smiled weakly, and handed the baby to the ANBU, who cradled him carefully with hands more accustomed to the hilt of a sword than the skin of a child.

"I am glad… Jiraiya, please, train him as well, if you can. And both of you… Tell no one he is my son, or Kushina's. Few know Kushina's real surname, anyway, so his last name will officially be Uzumaki… But, when he reaches the age you think appropriate for him to know, you may tell him. And also… Never tell him about the Kyuubi. I trust that the villagers will understand that he is a hero, but… If they don't… I don't want him to know about the fox. I created a contingency plan with the Sandaime, and everything will be explained if they are unable to see the truth."

Sighing, the blonde took Naruto in his arms once more, and turned from the two, walking towards the Kyuubi, raising his hand and flashing the "peace" symbol as he did.

"Goodbye, my friends. May we meet again in the next life… Goodbye, Naruto, my son…"

Then, his hands went through several seals, Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, and Ram.

"_Kuchiyose no Jutsu_!"

There was a huge puff of smoke, and, when it cleared, a toad that was of equal size to the Kyuubi no Kitsune appeared.

"**Eh? Oh, Minato, it's you! What's up?"**

"Gama-bunta… I need your help to take out the Kyuubi… I just need to get close enough to seal it, all right?"

"**You got it!"**

The colossal toad jumped into the air, Minato and Naruto steady on his head, and landed next to the fox.

Minato glared at the creature, blue eyes blazing with pain and hatred.

"Now, demon, you will pay for your actions against my village!"

He quickly went through the necessary hand seals, knowing that as soon as he was able to rip the soul from the Bijuu, the battle would be over.

His hands flashed through the appropriate hand seals for the final Jutsu he would ever cast, before he shouted its name.

"_Shiki FujinI!"_

The Yondaime let out a scream of pain as the Shinigami's hand entered his body, causing the baby in his arms to begin to wail, and the Shinobi below him to fear for their leader's life.

After all, they could not see the Shinigami, nor his hand, and could not understand where the man had been wounded. Only Nintai and Jiraiya knew the source of his pain, and both stood stoically, doing their best to avoid breaking into tears.

Both of them saw Minato as family, Nintai, as a brother, and Jiraiya, as a son. And both of them felt like a piece of their hearts were being ripped out of their chests, just as the Shinigami was ripping out Minato's soul.

But while they were doing this, Minato was busying himself with the finally step of his plan; sealing the Kyuubi into Naruto, along with finishing the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style and Four Symbols Seal that he had all ready placed.

Upon doing so, the few Shinobi left that had not retreated due to injuries upon their arrival, watched in awe as the Kyuubi's body fell, dead, and its soul appeared above its body, visible to all, as a strange, pale-red, ghost-like form of its original self.

However, they were shocked when it began to pulsate and writhe, and suddenly, split in two!

The first half, which remained the same, pale-red as the original, continued on, and entered Naruto's body, causing him to let out a screech of pain before quieting, unconscious.

But the second half was different entirely.

It was grey, almost black, like smoke from a funeral pyre. Its eyes glowed a dark red, like rubies, and its claws were the same white as the previous ghost's had been.

But there was one difference between this ghost and the other that stood out the most to the Shinobi present, and that was its number of tails.

What had started as nine, had suddenly dwindled to two, the other seven seemingly disappearing into thin air, and the creature shrank in size. Not enough to truly make a difference, but it was notable none the less.

It looked from left to right, as if surprised, and then leveled its gaze directly on Minato, who was struggling against the Shinigami's pull, and let out an earth-shaking roar.

"**FOOLISH MORTAL! YOU HAVE UNLEASHED YOUR **_**DEATH**_

As if answering his words, the earth around the ghost began to swirl violently, turning from dirt to mud, and then to foul-smelling sludge, the trees withering and dying as it touched them, and being pulled into the mixture.

It began to rise, encasing first the ghost's legs, then its body and tails, and finally, its head, leaving only the flaming eyes visible. Trees stuck out at odd angles, their branches jagged and bare, its claws and fangs seemingly composed of magma from far beneath the earth.

It was at that moment that Nintai was unable to stand any longer, feeling the pull of the Death God on his life strengthen, and fell backwards, sliding off of Gama-bunta's head, his grip on Naruto beginning to slip.

Only to be saved by Nintai, who had begun to run up the giant toad's back when he saw Minato stumble, and jumped off to catch both him and the child before they fell to their deaths.

Gama-bunta looked down at Minato, about to speak, when he poofed out of existence, the blonde's power to sustain him gone.

Nintai looked down at his adopted brother with sadness, making sure Naruto did not fall when they hit the ground. But then, his eyes opened wide when he heard Minato speak.

"Nintai… give… Naruto… to Jiraiya… you… need to… finish off… that _thing_… I… love you… my brother…"

Nintai, for the first time in nearly twenty years, felt tears come to his eyes, and openly wept as he laid Minato on the ground, kneeling beside him.

"I love you too, Minato… I love you too. I promise, I'll protect Naruto with my life, I swear it!"

The blonde smiled weakly up at him, still unable to open his eyes.

"Good. Nintai… please… take this…"

He reached behind him, beneath his coat, and, with a bit of struggle, pulled out a gleaming Ninjato, having been unable to detach its Saya. Nintai looked at it with confusion.

"But… that's Kushina's… Why-"

Minato cut him off.

"Take it! I… expect you… to use it… well… see ya later… Nintai…"

And with that, Minato's arm fell, dropping the Ninjato on the blood-soaked ground, and waking up Naruto, who immediately began to cry, attracting the attention of the new fox, which bared its molten fangs at him.

"**YOU! I SHALL DESTROY THAT WRETCHED CREATURE FOR WHAT IT HAS DONE!"**

Nintai felt anger coil in his chest, as Jiraiya body flickered next to him, looking at Minato with regret and sorrow. Nintai picked up Naruto, and handed him to Jiraiya, as well as helping him shoulder Minato.

"Get them out of here, Jiraiya…"

He reached down and picked up the Ninjato Minato had dropped, wiping the mud off of its still-gleaming blade, as water droplets began to fall from the sky.

"I've got work to do."

_**Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gakai…**_

**Well, I hope you like it. I know the ending is kinda' anti-climactic, but I felt I was already rushing things too much. Anyway, hope you are all prepared for Chapter Two: Vengeance. It'll come out at some point, hopefully by the end of next week, but then again, who knows.**

**Also, I am now available as a Beta-Reader, and will accept requests, so long as they follow the guidelines provided in my profile. Please, make sure you read through **_**all **_**of the profile, as there are some things I will not, under any circumstances, beta.**

**As a side note, I'd just like to say… HOT DAMN! Sixteen pages and six-thousand, four-hundred twenty-three words! And that's without the Author's notes at the beginning and end, or the disclaimer, or the title! I just want you all to know, I wouldn't expect **_**every**_** chapter to be like this, but I'll strive to meet this, at least. Anyway, onto the translations/explanations…**

_**Azuchi Fortress**_**: Named after the Azuchi Castle, which was built in Japan in the 1570s. In this story, it was the strongest fortress in the Land of Fire, before being destroyed by the Kyuubi.**

_**Izumo**_**: One of the provinces of Japan. In this story, it was once the capital of the Land of Fire, before the Kyuubi's attack. **

_**Tadahisa Shimazu**_**: Born August 1, 1227. He was the founder of the Shimazu samurai clan. In this story, he is the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.  
**_**  
Omoi**_**: in Japanese Mythology, Omoi is a Satori, an ape-like creature that can read people's minds, who lives at the base of Mount Fuji. Satori means "consciousness", while Omoi means "Mind".  
**_**  
Benkei**_**: Saito Musashibo Benkei (1155 - 1189), popularly called Benkei, was a Sohei (warrior monk) who served Minamoto no Yoshitsune. He is commonly depicted as a man of great strength and loyalty.  
**_**  
Daifu**_**: Can be translated as both Godfather and Father. In the context used, it means Godfather.  
**_**  
Nawanuke no Jutsu**_**: literally "Rope Escape Technique"  
**_**  
Shoki**_**: The Japanese version of Zhong Kui, a figure of Chinese mythology. Traditionally regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings, and reputedly able to command 80,000 demons, his image is often painted on household gates as a guardian spirit, as well as in places of business where high-value goods are involved. Basically, he was a demon-slayer.  
**_**  
Hanseki**_**: literally, "Results of Rebellion" **

_**Chiyupou: Naishukketsu Shuuzen**___**Literally**_** Healing Art: Internal Bleeding Repair**_** this is a technique used in the field by most ANBU-Level or higher Shinobi. It is used to stem blood flow in the wounds of an individual; it is not permanent, but it is, in theory, able to give the user time to properly heal the person after a battle. **

_**Katon: Jouki Dorai no Jutsu**_**: Translated as **_**Fire**__** Release: Steam Dry Technique**_** , this is a Jutsu used by Shinobi in the field to quickly dry themselves; it raises their body temperature via chakra enhancements to degrees high enough to cause any water on their body to evaporate; however, if used carelessly, it can lead to dehydration.**

Top of Form


	2. Vengeance

_The Kyuubi has been sealed… But now, a _different_ fox has appeared! Nintai's pissed, Jiraiya's gotta carry a newborn baby _and_ his dead "son"… Things aren't looking to good for Konoha… But maybe, just _maybe_, its resident half-devil can turn the tide!_

…_**Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gakai…**_

**_Chapter Two__  
__Vengeance_**

**"In the end, there is no greater motivation than revenge…"_ –Mello, Death Note_**

…**_Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gakai…_******

Nintai Subeta, ANBU, half-devil, and Shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, was pissed.

No, _pissed_ was too weak of a word to describe what he felt as he tested the weight of the Ninjato he held in his hands, pouring his Youki, his demonic chakra, into it, strengthening the steel to the point of near-indestructibility.

He was _furious_.

He began to walk towards the source of his anger with long, purposeful strides, resting the Ninjato against his shoulder as he did.

The source was a huge, fox-like monstrosity, made up of a foul, odorous mud, trees, as well as fangs and claws formed of magma. But none of this mattered to the Hanyou. All that mattered was what it had just done.

To Nintai's mind, _it_ was the cause of all of his pain, _it_ was the reason he felt the searing twin flames of anguish and anger.

And, to soothe this pain, _it_ had to die.

Growling, the snow-haired man began to sprint towards the beast, only one thought in his mind.

_Vengeance_.

He would have his revenge, and anything that got in his way would be destroyed. He felt all of the rage and hatred in his life that he had kept bottled up for so long begin to burst forth, like a tsunami of fury, a tidal wave of vicious energy, relentless and inescapable.

He disregarded the sludge-fox's insults, its roars, its boasts and threats. All that he focused on was getting close enough to exterminate it. That was all that mattered. The Fox would depart this life, once and for all.

No!

It would not die! He would give it a fate worse than death; if it was to die, it would return to its home, Makai, and would not _suffer_ as he wished! So, instead of killing it, he would do something to guarantee its utter isolation and pain.

He evaded a giant pillar of sludge that seemingly appeared from nowhere, and slashed through another with the Ninjato Minato had given to him moments before. He was close now; only twenty meters from the massive creature.

"You son of a bitch, you're going to pay for what you've done!"

His eyes flashed red, causing the only Shinobi remaining in the field to tremble in terror before body flickering away, leaving only Nintai, Jiraiya, and the Fox in the wasteland that had once been the southern and eastern sections of Konoha.

The two-tailed fox let out a loud snort at Nintai's words.

"**You? Kill **_**me**_**? The great Jubokko? You are but an **_**insect**_**, little human, to be crushed beneath my paws!"**

Nintai grinned, jumping and dodging a massive, molten claw as the Bijuu swiped at him, and felt his body pulsate with dark red chakra. He began to skid when he landed, finally stopping after leaving a deep trench in the ground for about twelve feet, and got up, popping the joints in his neck.

"Jubokko… Fitting name for a _kisei_ like you. After all, the only reason you had the power that you did was because you fed off the Kyuubi!"

The Bijuu roared in fury as it slammed one of its tails down, attempting to crush Nintai, but the agile Shinobi merely dodged it as it landed, leaving a crater in the earth.

"**I can defeat you easily, with or without her power!"**

Nintai raised an eyebrow.

"_Her_? The fox was a chick? Damn… I hope I never meet a female _human_ that manly! Then again, I suppose that girl from Ame I woke up with after I drank too much sake counts…"

Jubokko wasn't sure what angered him more; the fact that he had been reduced down to his true form, or that this _mortal_ was ignoring him to ponder about past mates!

"**Do not mock me, human!"**

He swiped at Nintai again, but this time, anticipated the dodge, and slammed his other paw down on top of him, crushing the Shinobi into the ground.

"**What, no more big talk, weakling?"**

"Oh, definitely not after _that_ display of power, I'm shaking in my boots!"

Nintai had used a quick _Shunshin_ to evade the kitsune's paw, and was now perched on its head, reclining lazily, examining his zanbato.

Enraged by the Shinobi's sarcasm, Jubokko snarled, and began to shake his head violently, trying to dislodge Nintai.

"**INSOLENT WORM! You will die here and now, human!"**

Nintai was thrown to the earth by the fox, but managed to land on his feet. He still hit hard, and grimaced as he felt his knees get jarred, but ignored it, and stood up.

"You know, for somebody who hasn't even landed a hit yet, you talk a lot of shit!"

The fox roared in anger and frustration, and began to send tendrils of the dark, gooey mud at Nintai. At first, the experienced Shinobi just dodged them carelessly; it was only mud, right?

Wrong.

One of the tendrils managed to brush against the right sleeve of his trench coat, and Nintai's ice-blue eyes immediately widened as he saw smoke began to rise from it.

"Fuck!"

He quickly pulled off the coat, leaving him in just his pants, boots, and body armor when he hit the ground with a loud _thump_.

"Acid… Of all things, it just _had_ to be acid!"

Nintai's eyes were blazing with fury, and he slowly got up, while the fox was laughing at him. _Laughing_!

He looked down at his coat, and saw, to his horror, that it was nearly eaten away entirely by the corrosive substance. His gaze slowly turned from the ruined garment to the still-laughing fox, and his right eye twitched.

"You're gonna pay for that… You BASTARD!"

It wasn't so much the coat, even though Nintai did love the thing. Kushina, who, despite her tom-boyish tendencies, knew her way around a needle and thread, had made the coat for him when he was fourteen, after the original one his mother had given him the year before, the year she died, had been ripped to near shreds by a group of bandits.

She had even made some of it out of the shreds of the old coat, and, every time he outgrew it, she would make him another, always making sure to include the pieces from the original. Minato had even included several seals to make the coat more durable, not to mention flame resistant.

Unfortunately, demonic acid hadn't exactly been something they'd planned on.

Nintai felt tears welling up in his eyes, and growled, wiping them away. That monster had taken everything from him; his teammates, his comrades, and now, one of the last memories of his mother.

An uncontrollable fury rose up from within him, as he felt something akin to boiling oil coursing through his veins.

For the second time that night, Nintai felt his Youki swirl around him, but this time, it was much thicker, tangible, almost, as it clung to his body. His eyes slowly rose from his coat to the fox, and they suddenly flashed from their normal ice-blue to a glowing, bright amber hue that encompassed the entirety of the orbs.

"You made…"

He began to walk with long, purpose-filled strides towards the beast, which simply watched him with something like amusement in its expression. However, that quickly changed to shock as a massive pillar of crimson Youki, almost lightning-like, struck out from Nintai's body as he finished his sentence.

"**A **_**BIG **_**MISTAKE!"**

Jubokko's flaming eyes brightened slightly, as close to a sign of surprise as a being composed of toxic sludge, lava, and withering, burning trees could muster. He had been under the assumption that Nintai was a simple _human._

But he was gravely mistaken.

Nintai's body begin to morph and change, the once slightly-pale flesh darkening and hardening, to the point that it looked like an insect's exoskeleton, but made of pure obsidian. His body seemed to have fused with his clothing; his torso was encased in the hard metal and ceramic of his body armor, and his pants seemed to be merged with his legs.

Jubokko realized then that he had misjudged this mortal greatly, but his stubborn pride did not heed his mind's advice to run away.

The fox let out a "humph", before speaking.

"**I am not scared of you, monkey. I have crushed beings of far greater power than you with one claw!"**

Nintai simply smirked, holding Kushina's Ninjato out with his right hand, before responding.

"**I'm sure… Now then…"**

He crouched down slightly, lowering himself into a runner's stance.

"**Let's rock!"**

_**...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…**_

Omoi Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, nearly fell on his ass when a huge explosion rattled the Monument Bunker; several villagers screamed in terror, and the smaller children began to wail.

"What the hell was that?"

The aged Kage turned around to see Anko Mitarashi, a Genin of about twelve years, if he wasn't mistaken.

She'd also been Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin's, apprentice before his defection, but now she was on Team Four with Shiden Tenshin.

"I'm not sure, Anko-chan. But please, restrain yourself from using such foul language in the future."

Anko looked down, slightly embarrassed.

"Hai, Sarutobi-sama!"

The old man smiled at her before turning back to the thick, reinforced steel doors of the bunker. He then sighed as he wondered about what was going on beyond them.

'_Nintai, Jiraiya, Naruto… Everyone… Please, be safe.'_

He knew his hopes were largely unfounded; two entire corridors of the bunker were filled with horribly injured Shinobi; some of them were missing limbs, meaning their careers as ninja were over.

But more were dead.

Konohagakure had long been able to boast about its power, and it certainly had the right. Two-thirds of its population had been Shinobi ever since the Nidaime's rule, and they had only lost a handful of skirmishes with other villages, the number of which was dwarfed by the amount of victories they had achieved.

Now, though, a _single_ entity had killed nearly half of their military force; Sarutobi knew that the amount of space needed to bury the dead would be enormous. They would probably have to create at least two new graveyards to accompany the three already in existence.

But space and body counts weren't the top priority of Sarutobi's thoughts; no, he was thinking more about Minato and Kushina's son, Naruto.

How would the citizens of Konoha react to the knowledge that one of the most diabolical monsters to ever taint the world with its presence was sealed inside of one of their own? Would they understand and view him as a hero, like Minato wished?

Or would they react as Sarutobi feared; with hatred, ignorance, even outright terror?

He sighed a second time, squeezing the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

He would just have to cross that bridge when the time came; for now, he had to continue on his rounds, checking the injured, making sure everyone was in their appointed posts…

But the whole time he carried out his duties, his thoughts were centered more on Naruto, and how Konoha would react to its new Jinchuruki.

_**...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…**_

Jiraiya Benkei, Toad Sannin of Konoha, and self proclaimed "Super Pervert", was shocked by what he had just seen.

Normally, the only thing that could shock the worldly sage was a particularly well-endowed woman, but this beat the socks off of that (though he would never admit it).

Nintai Subeta, after managing to land on the head of the giant Kitsune, had began to take mighty swings at its hard, and yet disgustingly gooey, head, attempting to break through, as far as Jiraiya could guess.

The pervert had been traveling towards the Monument Bunker at a steady pace since being told to do so by Nintai, but he had been making little progress, due mainly to the fact that he had to avoid several piles of dead bodies, not to mention make sure he didn't drop Naruto, who was somehow asleep throughout all of this, or the now-dead Minato.

But, the flash of red Youki that had been emitted from Nintai had forced him to stop in his tracks and turn around to see what had happened.

After the half-devil had managed to hack a large gash into the fox's head, an impressive feat seeing as the beast was attempting to shake him off with enough force to cause a normal human's arm to break in half, he had made several strange hand seals that took a moment for Jiraiya to recognize.

'_Youkai seals? What is he doing? There's nothing in there for him to destroy or harm, only the demon's spirit, and a jutsu isn't going to harm something from a different plane of existence like that!'_

Then, as if to answer his thoughts, Nintai let out a booming, air-splitting roar.

"_**Onipou: Jaki Shieki**_

Jiraiya's eyes widened.

'_Evil Spirit Enslavement? What the hell is-'_

He wasn't able to finish his internal question, however, as Nintai plunged the now-glowing blade of Kushina's Ninjato into the oozing gash he had created earlier.

This caused a number of things to happen.

First of all, Jubokko howled in pain and rage, shaking his head back and forth more violently than ever before. Suddenly, the Bijuu stopped moving, its face still contorted in a sickening expression of pain and anger.

After that, things seemed to go in slow motion to Jiraiya. He noticed the fox's body begin to ripple and bulge outward, as if something was trying to escape. The Toad Sage began to slowly back away, unsure of what was going on, when a huge wave of energy seemed to course through him, making his hair stand on end.

Naruto woke up because of the wave, and began to wail violently. Realizing something bad was about to happen, Jiraiya quickly turned around, and began to run as fast as he could back towards the village.

Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough; a huge explosion blasted forth from Jubokko, sending acidic mud, melted rock, and burning trees flying in every direction.

Jiraiya was knocked off of his feet by the blast, barely able to keep a hold of Minato and Naruto as he fell, twisting onto his stomach, careful not to crush Naruto, while his back took the brunt of the damage from the fire.

The Sannin felt a sharp twinge of pain at first, which quickly erupted into a burning sensation unlike anything he'd ever felt. He let out a scream of pain, causing Naruto to wail even louder, but the old man did not budge from his position, despite the huge amount of pain he was feeling.

After what seemed like hours, but had only actually been a few seconds, the pain subsided somewhat, though he still felt as if he'd been roasted.

Turning his head to look at his back, Jiraiya noticed two things:

One, his shirt was nearly destroyed, and his back was covered in burns. Painful, but nothing a medic-nin couldn't fix.

And secondly… His hair was gone.

He would've probably cried at that point, but he knew he would have to mourn later. For now, he had to get Naruto out of the area; the lava, mud, and burning trees had begun to set the destroyed buildings of the village alight, and he needed to get through them to tell the Hokage so that they could save the village from being completely destroyed.

_**...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…**_

Nintai grinned as he saw the fruits of his efforts; a wide gash in the fox's head.

"**I hope you're ready to be stuck inside this for the rest of eternity, bastard…"**

He quickly preformed the proper Handseals, knowing he only had one shot at this; if he failed now, the beast would be aware of what he was trying to do, and prevent it from happening.

Finally, he was finished, before shouting out the name of the jutsu he was about to use.

"**_Onipou: Jaki Shieki_!"**

The half-devil's grin widened as the desired effect took place; the beast screeched, then became eerily still and silent. He watched as the Ninjato began to absorb Jubokko's spirit, pulsating each time it ensnared a piece of it.

But that was something odd happened.

He looked up in surprise as he saw something move out of the corner of his eye, and realized that the fox's skin was bulging, which meant only one thing.

He'd fucked up. Majorly.

To explain how badly he'd fucked up would mean a very long, complicated essay on the physics of souls and the general (super)natural laws of the supernatural world, so to keep it short:

Nintai had miscalculated the volume of Jubokko's soul, and it was getting difficult for Kushina's Ninjato to contain it. As such, the _Jaki Shieki _was beginning to try and funnel the soul slowly, so as to allow the Kitsune's aura to merge with the metal at an easier pace.

However, the funneling process was going _too_ slow; the jutsu required a set amount of Spiritual Energy entering the selected object used to seal the soul, and the limitations of Jubokko's massive amount of Spiritual Energy were causing that quota to not be met.

So now, like a star going supernova, the soul was about to compress itself, enter the object, and then, suddenly, expand.

Which could mean disastrous consequences.

All of this was running through Nintai's mind right as he noticed a sudden drop in Jubokko's aura.

"**Oh, shit-"**

_BOOM!_

The explosion, which had injured Jiraiya's back and taken his hair, sent Nintai flying.

Literally.

He went several hundred yards into the air, soaring in a high arc over the smashed and burning ruins of Konoha, so high, in fact, that he was actually _above_ the huge pillars of smoke that were steadily rising into the air.

At any other time, Nintai would've reveled in the experience of flight; it was one of the few things a jutsu couldn't accomplish; bending gravity to the user's will.

But at the moment, he was busy trying to tear a burning glob of lava off of his stomach, glad that his youki was not completely exhausted; while he was still quite durable in his regular form, the melted rock would've easily eaten through him and caused him to split in half; even _he_ couldn't survive that.

He let out a sigh of relief when the burning sensation finally passed; he hadn't gotten all of it off, but the little that remained had been doused by the cold rain that was beginning to fall from the sky, leaving dark stones clinging to what would, upon his retransformation, become a replaceable set of body armor.

However, these thoughts, as well as any others in his mind, were doused just as quickly as the lava had been when his brief taste of flying ended.

By smashing him into, and _through_, the Hokage Monument, through the Nidaime's left eye, to be exact.

Lucky, upon losing consciousness due to this rather… jarring… escapade, Nintai lost control of his Akuma Hikigane, meaning when he hit the floor of the bunker with enough force to form a small crater in the reinforced concrete floor, while he may have broken several bones and even punctured one lung, none of the thousands of shocked and horrified villagers noticed his demonic side… At least, none of them, except a certain purple-haired Genin…

…_**Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gakai…**_

**There ya go! What'd you guys think? I can't know unless you REVIEW!**

**I know it was much, much shorter than the last chapter, but I **_**really**_** wanted to release this. It's semi-close to chapter one; granted, only about three-and-a-half-thousand words, but it's at least as much as one of my longer chapters in the original! **

**Anyway, stay tuned for **_**Chapter Three: Judgment**_**, which will reveal several things; mainly, the revelation to the public about Naruto, not to mention the fact that Nintai is his legal guardian, and who that purple-haired Genin was… As if you don't already know… **

**Now then, onto translations!**

_**Jubokko**_**: In Japanese Mythology, the Jubokko was some sort of "vampire tree". I, unfortunately, have no further information on it, but I felt it was fitting for a parasite like the Dark Kyuubi.**

_**Kisei**_**: Literally means "Parasite". I briefly considered using this as Jubokko's name, but decided I'd rather use something from mythology. **

_**Onipou: Jaki Shieki: Demon Art: Evil Spirit Enslavement**_**. This technique, being an **_**Onipou **_**jutsu, is only capable of being performed by a youkai or hanyou. After beating a powerful demon into submission, or at least to the point where it is too slowed to react in time, the caster performs the technique, and, after channeling the youki into a container, is able to actually imprison the defeated youkai's spirit inside of something. The reason this would not work on G.K. (Good Kyuubi), is mainly because of the fact that her power level far surpassed that of Jubokko, since, without G.K. to use as a host, his power is like the two-tailed Neko Bijuu's.**


	3. Judgement

**Yo! Fenrir7139 here! Sorry for the long wait. Anyway, prepare for time skips galore in this chapter! Why? Because I'm lazy, that's why! I don't feel like writing several more chapters of intro, damn it!  
**

**  
**_**…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gakai…**_

**  
Chapter Three  
Judgement**

"**Judgments prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances."**

_**…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gakai…**_

"And so, as of today, October Tenth, I hereby make this decree; that no one, regardless of rank or occupation, is allowed to speak of the events that transpired today, outside of the official version, which shall be printed as soon as the village is repaired. I had hoped it would not come to this, but it appears I have no choice."

Sarutobi, the now-reappointed Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, sighed, before continuing.

"This is a Double-S-Class-Secret; anyone who speaks of this shall be put to death, without trial. Now, return to your homes!"

Of course, there was an uproar. Sarutobi was standing on a balcony of the Hokage tower, flanked by Nintai, who was in full ANBU regalia on his right, Naruto held in a sling across his chest, and Ryu Hayabusa, another ANBU member, on his left.

From the moment Sarutobi had revealed the truth, things had gone downhill. He had expected fear and anger, but the level of pure hatred was astounding, even after he had expressed the Yondaime's wishes for the blonde baby to be seen as a hero. But, unfortunately, that was not to be.

While Sarutobi may have been calm, Nintai was seething behind his mask, ice-blue eyes blazing. He wanted to draw Hanseki and skewer the ungrateful bastards, but he didn't. Instead, he simply turned on his heel and walked into the Hokage Tower, and sat in one of the chairs in his office, softly rocking Naruto, as he remembered his mother had once done, trying to calm him, as the shouting of the villagers had upset him, and he had begun to cry.

After several unsuccessful minutes of rocking, Nintai decided to try something else.

He pulled of his mask, and placed it on the armrest of the chair, before looking down at the crying blonde. He began to rock him in his arms a bit more, before he began to sing in a soft voice.

_"Bless me,  
With the,  
Leaf off of the Tree..."_

_"On it,  
I see,  
The Freedom Reign..."_

He grinned when Naruto began to quiet noticeably, though he was still wailing, just a bit less than before. Nintai continued.

_"We are,  
Falling,  
The Light is Calling,  
Tears in-side me,  
Calm me down..."_

_"Midnight,  
Calling,  
Mist of Resolving,  
Crown me,  
With the,  
Pure Green Leaf..."_

_"Praise to my Father,  
Blessed by,  
The Water,  
Black Night,  
Dark Sky,  
The Devil's Cry..."_

Nintai, finished with the strange, rather dark, lullaby, looked down to see that, to his relief, Naruto was sound asleep.

"It would seem Minato and Kushina were very wise to entrust the boy with you, Nintai."

The white-haired nin looked over his shoulder to see Sarutobi, a sad smile on his face.

"I guess... I still don't think I'm really cut out for this, though... I mean, I'd take him in, but how would I take care of him? I can't stop taking missions, or else he'll starve, but with how the villagers are acting, I can't just leave him here, even in the care of a friend! What should I do, Sir?"

Sarutobi sighed, and walked over to his desk, sitting in the high-backed chair that rested behind it.

"I am not sure... I would take you off of the active Shinobi roster, but with the huge amount of causalities we sustained today... I do not think that is feasible. I know that Iwa will take a strong interest in this; they may be our allies, but I do not trust them. "

"Course you don't! You can't trust a snake, and the entire Stone Village is filled with the scum!"

Sarutobi shook his head.

"I may agree with you on that, Nintai. Still, we must put on a mask of causality; we cannot allow the other villages, especially Iwa and Kumo, to know our true number of causalities."

Nintai nodded, a scowl on his face.

"Makes sense to me. Still, what about Kiri and Suna?"

Sarutobi waved his hand at him dismissively.

"They are of no consequence; Kiri is too busy helping the Water Daimyo deal with that uprising, and Suna barely has a force as it is, due to the budget cuts the Wind Daimyo has made. However, we must prepare for tomorrow, and the weeks, months, even years, after today; so much was destroyed... So many were killed."

The two were silent for a while, the only sound in the room being a small blonde baby's steady breathing and soft murmuring as he slept.

_**...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gakai...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gakai...**_

A month had passed since that horrible night, and now, Nintai found himself shaking hands with Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, as he stood in front of the village gates. The man had been severely burned, but it was nothing a few medic-nins couldn't patch up; and now, the aged Shinobi even had managed to grow out his hair to nearly his ears.

"You don't have to go, dude. It's not like we would mind your help."

The Sannin sighed.

"I know, Nintai, I know... But, I need this. I need to be by myself for a while. Maybe work on a new novel; perhaps something romantic and soothing."

A young, white eyebrow was raised.

"What? Romantic? Soothing? What happened to Jiraiya, and who are you? The Jiraiya I know only writes smut!"

The hermit laughed.

"Yeah, it shocked me to... Hey... Mind if I name the main character... Naruto?"

Nintai shook his head disbelievingly and chuckled.

"Of course not, you old perv. Still, he might, when he gets older. Oh, well."

Jiraiya grinned, and reached into his pocket.

"Thanks, Nintai. And this is for you."

He pulled out a small, hard-cover book, with kanji on the title that read "Naruto: Shippuden". Nintai took the book, and, upon reading the cover, looked at the perverted author.

"Hurricane Chronicles? I thought you were going to write the book?"

Jiraiya nodded.

"I am. That's the first I ever wrote, literally. It's sort of an autobiography, with a few exaggerated bits, of course. It's how Minato and Kushina chose the gaki's name."

Nintai smirked, before pocketing the novel.

"Thanks. I'm sure he'll love it. I'll make sure to take good care of it, I promise."

Jiraiya smiled, and placed a hand on the white-haired shinobi's shoulder.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear, Nintai. Exactly what I wanted to hear."

And with that, Nintai watched as Jiraiya walked out of the gates and down the dirt road leading out of Konoha, until he was only a speck in the distance. Nintai sighed, and turned away, walking back towards the center of the village.

Great progress had been made in the rebuilding process; the Hokage had hired an army of workers from the neighboring outposts and towns, and, with their help, a fourth of the village had been patched up; it wasn't perfect, but it was at least habitable, which was more than could be said for the majority of the village. Nintai was glad that the Bijuu had attacked during the summer; the Land of Fire was notorious for its hot summers, and the shade of the trees did little to cool off the area, but it was better than winter, where rain, fog, and a wet, bone-numbing cold that seeped through clothes were the norm. If the Kitsune had attacked then... Nintai doubted that many would have survived.

As it was, however, the majority of Konoha's population were packed into the small residential area that had been restored, while the hired workers either camped outside of the city's walls or returned to their homes each night, depending on how close they lived to Konoha. Sickness and disease were, thankfully, not commonplace in the village, despite the cramped living arrangements; most of the sick and infirm citizens had died in the attack, when several of the hospitals had been smashed to rubble. It was a rather gruesome, but still true, fact; their deaths had prevented any epidemics that may have occurred if they had been saved.

Nintai shook his head, trying to rid his head of those kind of thoughts, and tried focusing on something else... Like how the villagers and even some of the hired workers were giving him dirty looks when they thought he wasn't paying attention.

The snow-haired nin's ice-blue eyes narrowed, and he gave a bestial snarl to a man who had made a rude hand gesture in his direction, causing his eyes to grow wide and his legs to quickly move his body away from the angry Shinobi.

Within one week of the Hokage's Decree, known officially as "Amendment Thirteen of the Konohagakure no Sato Constitution", twenty men and women had been executed due to violating it; since then, the number had slowly dwindled, as the villagers, and some of the Shinobi, finally got the message, and now there hadn't been an execution so far that week. But, the law did not, and in all honesty, couldn't, forbid dirty looks or insults such as "Demon Brat", or "Hellspawn", when referring to Naruto; after all, it didn't technically violate the Third's Decree, and any attempt on his part to outlaw it would have been met with too much resistance from the Council; they had only one veto per year, but they would have used it for that purpose if they had to; and, if they did, it would prevent any law like it from even being discussed until the next year.

Nintai, however, didn't like it one bit; if it wasn't for the fact that the Council, and the Villagers in general, were looking for any sign of criminal or violent behavior outside of his job as a Shinobi, he'd have beaten the daylights out of half the village population by now. But, as it stood, he had to curb those urges; if he didn't, Naruto would be taken away from him in moments, if the Council got its way, and, as the Hokage had little jurisdiction over civilian matters, it most probably would. So, he ignore the looks he was given as best as he was able, and began searching for one of the few grocery stores that were still running; the selection wasn't exactly gourmet, but it was better than starving, and no matter what, he wasn't going to let a child of his former teammates go hungry, ever.

After about an hour and a half, Nintai had finally found a store that was open and didn't outright refuse to sell to him. He knew he had been overcharged on the items he had bought, but prices had risen due to much of the stock having been destroyed, anyway, and it wasn't nearly as bad as some places charged him. Regardless, he had bought enough formula for Naruto and food for himself to last at least two weeks, so long as Naruto's appetite didn't suddenly skyrocket like it had two weeks into Nintai taking care of him; the infant had begun to consume about two time his body weight a day.

_'And all the dirty diapers...'_

Nintai shuddered at the horrible memory, but then continued to reminisce. After about four days of that, the blonde had suddenly returned to normal, and hadn't had another episode like that again. Nintai wasn't sure what to make of it, and neither was the Hokage; they were slightly afraid that it had to do with the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and even more worried that it meant something had gone wrong with the seal.

Still, nothing like it had happened since, so Nintai was beginning to feel that it had been a one-time thing.

'Besides, it's not like me or Sarutobi know jack about babies; he may have fathered Asuma, but being Hokage doesn't leave much time for childrearing...'

His thoughts trailed off, however, when he felt a presence behind him, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

He stopped moving, and heard a soft thud, as if someone had suddenly stopped as well, and then hid behind one of the newly-erected electricity poles behind him.

Blue eyes narrowed, and Nintai began to slowly reach for the hilt of his zanbatou. Others had followed him before; usually, for the sole purpose of killing, or otherwise harming, Naruto. Nintai had no more patience for them.

Then, in a sudden burst of speed, his blade, Hanseki, was drawn, and its edge was being held against the throat of his stalker, while his unoccupied left hand held the assailant against the wooden fence.

"What the hell are you... Wait... You're a Genin... Anko Mitarashi? Why are you following me? I don't want to kill you, but I won't hesitate to do so if you give me the wrong answer!"

The violet-haired girl was obviously frightened, and Nintai felt a twinge of guilt, but he supressed it; there'd been others her age that'd wanted Naruto dead.

"Well, answer-"

"I saw you!"

Nintai was taken aback by her loud outburst, and stepped back, letting her fall to the ground on her backside.

"You saw me? Well, obviously... "

Nintai sighed, shaking his head sadly.

'Great, I'm dealing with some crazy Genin... I don't have time for this... the ice cream's gonna melt, and then there goes my sundae...'

He was brought out of his daydream of delicious vanilla ice cream covered in equally tasty strawberry sauce by Anko, who had began to speak once again.

"No, I mean... I... I saw you when you were a monster!"

Nintai's blood ran cold at that statement, but his face showed no signs of his inner fear.

'Does she... She couldn't have...'

"What are you talking about, girl?"

Anko looked down at the ground, and spoke.

"Well... I saw you when you broke through the side of the monument. And I saw how you changed from that black thing to the body you're using now... And I just, I wanted to know... What are you?"

**_...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gakai...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gakai..._**

That had been three years ago.

Since that time, Naruto had grown into a healthy toddler, normal in every way, except, of course, for the fact that a demonic beast was sealed inside him... And not just the Kyuubi.

"He's got the appetite of a small bear!"

Anko watched the little boy eat as if he hadn't seen a shred of food in years, devouring a meal larger than most teenage boys could stomach.

The violet-haired kunoichi had become a regular visitor of Nintai and the blonde, and, at the age of fifteen, she had been a Chunin for more than half a year; there was even talk amongst the leaders of the Recruitment Department of the ANBU about picking her up for training; she was found to have a very repetitive history of being rather sadistic when it came to dealing with captured enemies.

Still, you wouldn't have thought that when you saw her with Naruto; it was as if her personality just shifted, changing her from an angry, violent teenager to a gentle, loving woman.

She had began coming over almost every day since she and Nintai had first spoken. She felt a certain kinship with the now-Captain of the ANBU. Both were shunned by the majority of the village; Nintai, due to being Naruto's foster-father, and she, because of her time being an apprentice of Orochimaru.

He had told her the truth about himself, he had even proven his half-devil heritage via a quick transformation. She had taken it surprisingly well; she'd even managed to stare at him for a few moments before fainting.

But, that was the past. The present was much more interesting.

Naruto had just finished his lunch, which included white rice, some yellowtail, milk, and, of course, ramen. The three-year-old blonde was downright addicted to the stuff, and, seeing as he didn't seem to gain unneeded weight, ever, Nintai felt it was okay to let him have it every couple of days.

He would've let the little guy eat as much as he wanted, but the Hokage, and, surprisingly, Anko, were both adamant that he didn't simply eat noodles... a point which, unfortunately, Anko had driven home quite violently.

Nintai sighed. Why was it that everyone he knew was insane?

**_...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gakai...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai...Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gakai..._**

Unfortunately, all good things eventually come to an end.

For Nintai, this was exactly five years after the Kyuubi's attack. He had become Captain of his own ANBU Squad, who were officially known as "Squad 6-B", though they were more commonly known by their nickname; The "Devil Squad".

Even Nintai, a man known to make quite a few annoying puns from time to time, had wanted to slap himself after the name stuck. It was completely lame, unoriginal, and... well, silly.

However, stupid nicknames weren't the cause of his woes. What the Hokage had told him was.

"Nintai, there has been a surge in Youkai Activity recently."

Now, some people might not get the sheer suckage of that statement; those that didn't understand how Youkai operated fall into that category.

Youkai usually stayed in the Underworld, where they belonged; it wasn't like they didn't like it. Hellfire, brimstone, human souls to feed on... It was actually pretty cozy down there.

Unfortunately, that's where a jackass named Yochi comes in. Yochi was, basically, Emperor of Makai, more often referred to as "Hell".

Now, due to said Emperor status, it should be fairly obvious that Yochi isn't exactly your run-of-the-mill, bloodthirsty and stupid demon. He was pretty bad-ass. But, he had had his eye on the human world for a long, long time; even before humans could speak. But, of course, he was usually foiled; mostly due to the fact that several alternate dimensions filled the rift between the mortal and demonic worlds; some were home to summons, some were simply alternate universes, but the majority of them were the tiny pocket-dimensions made whenever a Shinobi used a sealing scroll.

Youkai, especially weak Youaki, who are used as canon fodder by the rest of Yochi's army, can sustain major damage from traveling from dimension to dimension. This meant that, for all Yochi's eyeballing, it was unlikely that he'd ever set foot on the planet Nintai occupied.

Unfortunatly, there were ways around these constraints; as the Bijuu had shown, there were loopholes that let demons through. The official, religious term was "Hellgates", but Nintai liked to think of them as "Annoying Portals that Demons use like Public Transportation".

Yeah, long name.

Anyway, several Hellgates had been opening up across the mainland; so far, none had reached the island nations. Luckily, the majority of the Youkai were the small, weak kind, easily taken out by a decently-trained Samurai or rookie Shinobi. However, it was only a matter of time until bigger baddies started showing up, which would mean Nintai would have to put in a lot of overtime.

And, to top it all off, today was Naruto's first day of school at the Shinobi Academy.

Nintai shook his head, adjusting his ANBU mask slightly.

"This is gonna suck."

**_…__Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gaikai…Kitsune no Rekidaishi: Gakai…_**

**So, what did you all think? Please, leave a review. I think it's kind of half-assed, but I needed to get on with the story, and this helps to push the plot. Lame, I know, but whatever. Also, I apologize for the final bit after the last break; It was 2:44 am when I wrote it, so it's rather... strange, I think. Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter; it'll come a lot sooner, I swear! It'll probably be about... Two, maybe three chapters before Naruto becomes a Shinobi and heads to Wave, but trust me, it'll be worth it.**

**So, be ready to be amazed when _"Chapter Four: Insert One Word That Summarizes Chapter"_, reaches your eyeballs!**

**...Yeah, I know. Weird.**


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